While the Penn State football depth chart released on Monday lists two new starters on the offensive line for Saturday's game against Kent State, Nittany Lions' coach Joe Paterno gave, at best, a weak endorsement of his two new linemen yesterday.

Tackle Chris McKelvy and guard Tyler Reed, both of whom started on the right side of the line against Nebraska, were projected to again protect quarterback Zack Mills' blindside against Kent State.

Although not surprising, this is the first time this season that Nick Marmo and Damone Jones have not been listed as the starting guard and tackle, respectively. The duo started the first two games against Temple and Boston College.

In the games against the Owls and Eagles, Mills was routinely swarmed by defensive players and was sacked a total of three times for a total loss of 30 yards. Many times through the season's first three weeks, the Lions blamed a lack of experience as the reason for the troubles, but Nebraska had a great deal of success blitzing extra defenders to create mismatches last Saturday.

"We've got a long way to go with our whole passing game," Paterno said. "It's not the quarterbacks who have to get better. It's everybody involved; it's the running routes, it's the pass protection . . . we've made some strides with the offensive line and the pass protection."

Some strides, yes, but not to a point where many quarterbacks might feel comfortable. Marmo and Jones had trouble dealing with the speed of opposing defensive linemen in Penn State's first two games and routinely looked out of place. The move to start McKelvy and Reed therefore may improve the problem.

However, Paterno refrained from declaring either player the unquestioned starter. The coach said Jones is nursing a back injury that keeps him from playing to his full potential and even keeps him out of conditioning at times.

When asked about his decision to start Reed last Saturday in Lincoln, Paterno simply said the sophomore had seen more playing time and was more experienced than Marmo, a junior.

The left side of the Lions' line has remained the same all season, with Levi Brown at tackle, Scott Davis at guard and David Costlow at center. Those positions seem set for now, but Paterno refrained from saying that McKelvy, Reed, Costlow, Davis and Brown would be the starting five for the rest of the year.

"I wouldn't go that far yet," Paterno said. "I still think we've got to make improvements at certain spots."

Any improvements would be welcome to the running game and the passing game, both of which are struggling. While the consensus has been that the Lions are improving, the offense has gained fewer yards rushing in each successive game and has had the ball for almost 34 fewer minutes than their opponent this season.

That may change against Kent State, a team that allowed an average of 31.3 points and 421.0 yards of total offense in its first three games. It should be a good barometer of just how much improvement the line has left to make.